Football-game apparatus



Nov. 8, 1927.

R. H. ANDERSON FOOTBALL GAME APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 31, 1926 INVENTOR W12 6723016 C; 2 MORNEY Nov. 3, 1927. 4 1,648,601

R. H.'ANDERSQN 4 FOOTBALL GAME APPARATUS I Filed Dec. 51, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR age? )Zmewoa Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES RALPH H. ANDERSON, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

FOOTBALL GAME APPARATUS.

Application filed December 31, 1926.

The objectof this invention is to provide a novel form of foot ball game apparatus whereby the game offoot ball may be played in close simulation to the actual outdoor practice.

One of the features of my apparatus is to provide relatively movable elements, one being a ball guiding and the other a field element on which latter the field is outlined, therebeing a foot ball simulating member in guided relation to one of said elements and in actuated relation to the other of said elements.

A feature of my invention consists in providing a ball simulating member that is floatingly and indiscriminatively movable, within certain limits, so that as the coacting and relatively movable elements are actuated, the ball member will execute various movements and take various positions on the fieldwholly at variance with any predetermined order either between or outside the side lines as thereby greatly to enhance the fit) uncertainties and stimulate by the element of surprise to an extent equal to the game as played out of doors.

A further feature consists in a novel form of yardage indicator which is slidably and frictionall} associated with the field element in-a manner to travel therewith to a predetermined extent, and which is manually adjustable. or capable of being set to account for the yardage made.

A further novel feature consists in means for indicating to the players when a period such as a quarter has been completed, said means preferably being of the audible type and being actuated in a novel manner by the same means which adjusts the field element.

In accordance with my invention, the field element is normally held against movement and novel means of a manually operable nature is provided to move the field element in different "directions in the course of play. said element alwavs being held strictlv to the position to which it has been adjusted.

It is a feature of my invention to subdiv de the plavin field into a plurality of s ctions. preferahlv parallel with the side l nes. and to rovide a deck of playing cards eouifoped with plav designatingdata. and also with yardage indicating data. the latter being arranged in accordance with the number of sections into which the field is li. vided.

Serial No. 158,364..

My invention has many other features which will be more fully described in conncction with the accompanying drawings and which will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1, is a plan view in elevation of my simulating element and the guiding means for holding the ball member in actuated re lation to a field element.

Fig. 7, is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Fig. 6. V

Fig. 8, is -a sectional view on line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9, is'a playing face view of one of my improved cards.

Fig. 10, is a similar view of another of the cards.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

My invention, as shown, includes a frame which is preferably in the form of a casing, having a bottom 1, end walls 2 and 3, and a casing wall 4. the latter being provided with an observation opening 5. ithin the casing is what I will term a field element which is specifically in the form of a cylinder 6, the same being provided with a drag or braking shoulder 7. Said cylinder 6, is shown mounted on a spindle 8, preferably rigidly, and one end of said spindle 8 is journalled at 9. in wall 2, the other end of saidspindle being journalled in a bearing 10, forming a part of an upright 11. mounted on a base 12.

This base 12 is suitably anchored to bottom 1, and will be further described. It will be seen that wall 4, is semi-cylindrical at the top of the casing and that the cylinder 6, is concentric therewith. with a suitable clearance and so that a peripheral portion of the cylinder 6 may be observed through opcning 5.

a As will later appear, I desire to provide periphery of, cylinder 6 with a friction surface and in practice, I cover the same with felt 13, for the reason that cylinder 6, functions as an actuating element. 011 the exposed surface of the felt is delineated the lines of a foot ball field, the side lines being indicated at 14, and extending circumferentially of the cylinder, and the transverse lines 15, which indicate or divide the yard age, into sections of ten yards, It will be noted that the margins 16, of opening 5, disclose areasof' the field laterally of the side lines, which areas are designated at 17. -The yardage lines are numbered, as indicated at 18, and the complete field is delineated including goals, which it is not necessary to show.

Foot ball means is disposed in eoacting relation to the field element and will now be described in detail.

A guiding element is provided in the form of a ball rod 19 which on, end walls 2 and 3, and which extends par allel with the yardage lines 15 and across the field! beneath the casing and in relatively close relation to the field. It is a feature of my invention, in orcer to add to the at tractiveness of the game, will later ap-. pear, to divide the playing field into a plurality of sections, and in this form of the invention, this feature is accomplished by coloring rod 19, say yellow, at the center of the field, asindicated at 20, and red, near the sides of th-efield, asindicated at 21.. Of course, these precise colors are not essential, but the purpose is to visually divide the field into sections extending circumferentially thereof.

It is a feature of my invention to provide foot ball simulating means which I will next describe in detail.

I employ a ring 22, which as shown more particularly in Figs. 6 toil, is not cylindrical in cross section, but is in the form of a ring band which may be of metal or other material. It will be seen that the internal diameter of the hand 22, is very greatly in excess of the diameter of rod 19, and the width of the band is such, as regards the distance between rod 19 and the held, that one margin 23, will engage the rod 19- while the other margin 24, will engage the felt 13. The parts are so proportioned that the band will always overbalance from the vertical either to one side or the other while being actuated by the moving felt 13. I make the band 2-2 of extremely light veight material so that it will be very responsive to the actuation 0f the felt 13. New loy reason of this construction, the ball simulating elementfi'l will move indiscriminately from one side of the field to the other, sometimes reu'iaining in the center and sometimes even laterally of the side lines 14- by reason of the floating relation of the bandwith respect to the rod 19. Of course, the band 22 is, as will be seen,

shown mounted.

loosely threaded on the rod andhence the variant movement of the band will. always be in a linear path because it is guided by rod 19. This is also an advantage because'it is desirable to always have the'ball member 2 :2, within observation through opening 5. \Vhile l. have shown the field cylindrical-and the rod fixed, it will. be clear that the field element and the ball means have relative movement with respect to each other, one of the elements functioning as an actuating element and the other as a guiding element. It will also be clear that as the field-1 is retated, the band 22, rod 19. y i 7 Reference will next be made to the novel manual, means for imparting movement to extending cireuinferentially over shoulder 7,as shown, and having radially inwardly turned ends 28, preferably sharpened or" pointed, for engagemcntwith said shoulder 7. Knobs 29. and 30, are disposed in a position acecssiblefrom the exterior of the casing and said knobshave rods 31 and 32, respectively, which extend througli a slot 3 in thefcasing, and are mounted rigidly on said spring 27, as shown. Thus, if a player on the left of Fig. 4-, wishes to shift the field, he manually depresses knob 29 until the cor: responding end 28, is engaged with shoulder 7, then, by shifting the knob 29, either to the right or left of Fig. l, he can cause a corre sponding movement of cylinder 6, to vary the position of the field with respect to the ball. Just as soon as he releases pressure on the knob, the spring will release tractive engagement between the end 28 and the cylinder. I provide two knobs to afford one for each player, but both knobs are identical in structure and operation, hence, only one will be rotated around need be described. In order to move the cyl- 'iuder 6, the required extent, it may be necessary to make more than one oscillation of the knob, which will be clear from the foregoing.

In order to prevent the cylinder from be" ing accidently moved, I provide meanswhich I will next describe.

A dra shoe 34 engages shoulder 7, and has a stem 35 that slides through boss 36, mounted on upright 11. A spring 3'7, is interposed between said shoe and said boss 36, and normallyengages the shoe against shoulder 7 with a sufficient amount-of traction to hold the cylinder against accidental movement and yet permit the cylinder to readily be shifted by the means just do scribed. r

fill

'the means for shifting the cylinder.

-- divisions.

It is a feature of my invention to provide means for indicating to the players a period of play, or the completion of a period of play, which, in foot ball, may be a quarter.

As shown, the base 12, has an upright 38 having abearing 39 which is in line with a bearing 40, on upright 11. A counterspindle 41, is journalled in said bearings 39 and 40 and I mount on said spindle 41, a toothed wheel or disc 42, having ratchet teeth A pawl 44, actuated by a spring 45, is pivoted at 46, to bar 25, and as the latter is oscillated, rotative movement in one di rection only, is imparted to wheel 42. Se-

cured to disc 42, or fixed to spindle 41, as

desired, is a cam47 having a tooth 48. A drag spring 49, is mounted on bottom 1, at

50, and the upper end 51, may be slightly forked to engage the marginal edge. of cam 47 under considerable pressure. The direction of rotation of the cam 47, as well as disc 42, is clockwise, viewing Fig. 4, and therefore as spring 51 is suddenly released by tooth 48 and impacts on the shorter radius of the cam 47, a note of warning is audibly heard that indicates that a period of play has been completed. It will be clear that the spring 51, also acts as a drag, and therefore prevents any idle movement of the disc 42 and cam 47, and securely holding the same as the pawl 44' rides over the teeth 43, to take a new grip. In practice, the teeth 43 will be made small enough to insure accurate movement of the cam 47, upon actuation of It will now be clear that the manual means for shifting the cylinder, operates the period indicating signal mechanism.

My invention includes an improved yardage indicator which I will next describe in detail. l

The indicator proper, is shown at 52, the same being of a length coincident with ten yards, and being graduated into one yard Suitable finger grips 53, are 'provided for adjusting said indicator and the latter is movable in a slot 54, in the casing. Said indicator is mounted on or integral with a supporting arm 55 which extends downwardly and is oscillatable on spindle 8, a spring 56, holding said arm 55 toward the left hand end of cylinder 6. Said arm 55 is provided with a slot 57, through which rod 19 projects, the latter limiting oscillating movement of the indicator and also limiting movement of the indicator with the cylinder 6. Said arm '55 is provided with friction members 58 adapted to engage the left hand end of cylinder 6 so that a suflicient frictional engagement Will result tov normally cause the indicator to follow the movement of the cylinder. However, the indicator can be manually adjusted independently of the cylinder. v

In use, the device'of my invention is employed with a in Fig.9. e

As illustrated, the playing face of said card59, is divided intofour vertical columns 60, 61, 62 and 63. In column 60, I have designated the various names of plays that may be made. Column 61, is the left section of the field, which would be one of the red sections visualized by a red portion 21, of rod'19, dependent upon the direction the player was facing the device shown in Fig. 1.. Column 62, is the central section, visualized by the yellow portion 20, ofrod 19. Column 63, is the right section, visualized by the remaining red portion 21. In these columns, will be found numerals and legends showing the yardage to which the ball 22 must be moved.

Having described the structure of my invention, I will next briefly describe one manner in which the game of foot ballmaybe played. The cards are first shuttled and disposed face down. The player opening the game manually moves the ball 22 to his own forty yard line, and grasping one of the knobs, or

rather th-e'knob on his side, say 30, moves the latter back and forth, without depressing the knob to actuate the cylinder, until the tooth 48, of cam 47, releases spring 51. The resulting click, audibly" indicates that the game may be started, or ratherthe first quarter. Although the ball 22 is always placed in the center section on kickoff, the play desired may be selected from any sec- ,tion' of the card. Assuming that player A decides to kick off, he will turn over the first card from the deck and select a kickoff. He will then actuate the field until the ball has been moved toward his opponents goal the selected distance designated on the card. If

the ball goes out of bounds, the play must be made over again, player A, drawing another card. After the kickoff, the second player B, turns over the next card, and returns the ball the distance designated, in that section of the field corresponding to the section of the field in which the ball is located. The player B, now has the ball, and is now the offensive player. The defensive player A, now draws two cards. The offensive player may now call for any play. The object of defensive player A, is to play acard that will give his opponent the least ossible ain or in fact a loss, or if ossible. b 7 i to cause his opponent to fumble the ball or by intercepting a forward pass, and thereby gain possesion of the ball.

If the ball is in the left section of the field, that is, to the left of the player facing the device, the plays used are designated on the left section of the card, of such player. If the ball is in the center or right sections, the corresponding sections of thecard are used. After the card has been played, the

pack of cards, one being shown offensive player B, causes the ball to be moved'forward or backward with respect to the field,asdirected on the card.

It will be clear that the device ofmy invention may be employed in various kinds of plays, and with various methods ofplay, and it is thought that the foregoing will be illustrative.

It is believed that the invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described one specific form of my invention, I do not wish to vbe limited thereto except forsuch limitations as the claims may import. i i

I claim it i 1: A football game apparatus comprisin a casin havin an observation 0 ening therein, a cylinder rotatively adjustable in said casing with its periphery disposed abreast of said opening, the periphery of said cylinder having delineated thereon the side and transverse lines of a foot ball field with the side lines extending circumferentially of said cylinder, a rod mounted in said casing and extending across said opening and in close relation to the periphery of said cylinder parallel with the transverse lines of the field, and a foot'ballsimulating ring looselyuthreaded on said rod and having gravity engagement with the periphery of said cylinder for movement of said ring transversely of said field as said cylinder is rotatively adjusted.

2. A foot ball apparatus comprising, a casing having an observation opening therein, a'cylinder rotatively adjustable in said casing with the periphery of said cylinder abreast of said opening, the periphery of said cylinder having delineated thereon the transverse and side lines of a foot ball field with the sidelines extending circumferentially of said cylinder, a rod mounted in said casing and extending across said opening parallel with the transverse lines and in close relation to the periphery of said cylinder and said rod being visuallysub-divided longitudinally to divide the fieldinto a plurality of separate sections, and a foot ball simulating ring loosely threaded on said rod and engaging the periphery of said cylinder, whereby rotative adjustment of the latter will cause indiscriminate movement of said ring longitudinally of said rod and across said field.

3. A foot ball game apparatus comprising, relatively movable field and rod elements and the field element havingfdelineated thereon the lines of a foot ball field, and a foot ball simulating ring band threaded on said rod element and frictionallyiengaged said field element, said elements being in sufficient adjacency and said band being sufficiently enlarged in diameter to overbalance in different directions from the vertical and fioatingly move to different positions onsaid field element as said elements are relatively actuated. j p s Y a 4:. A foot ball game a paratus com rising, relatively movable field and rod e ements in close relation andsaid fieldelementhaving delineated thereon the lines of a foot ball field delineated thereon, and a floatingand indiscriminately movable foot ball simulating member in guided relation to one of said elements and in actuated relation with the other of said elements.

i 6. A football game apparatus comprising, guiding and actuating elements relatively movable and one of said elements having the lines of a foot ball field delineated thereon. one of said elements having means for visually dividing said field intosections, and a foot ball simulating member floatingly associated Withone of said elements and actuated byi the other (of said elements to assume avariety of different positions on the field upon relative movement of said, elements. a a I 7, A toot ball game apparatus comprising, a movable element having on its face the lines delineative ofa football field, ball simulatingmea-ns abreast of said field, manual means for moving said element in difterent directions during the course of play, and mechanism operated by said means for iridicating the completion of a period of p ay. l 1

a 8. A football game apparatus comprising, a rotatively adjustable cylinder having the lines of a foot ball field peripherally delineated thereon, ball simulating means abreast of said field, means for rotatively adjusting said cylinder in opposite directions in the course of play, and mechanism operated in one direction by said means for audibly indicating the completion of a period of play.

9. A foot ball game apparatus comprising, a frame, a cylinder rotatively adjusta yardage indicator frictionally associated with said cylinder.

' 10 A foot ball game apparatus comprising, a frame, a cylinder rotatively adjustable in said frame and having the lines of a foot ball field delineated on the periphery thereof, a foot ball simulating means abreast of said field, means for adjusting said cylinder in different directions during the course of play, a yardage indicator frictionally associated With said cylinder to move therewith, and means for limiting movement of said yardage indicator.

11. A foot ball game apparatus comprising, relatively movable ball and field -elements and the field element having lines thereon delineating a foot ball field, one of said elements having means for subdividing the field into a plurality of sec tions on lines parallel with the side lines of the field, and a pack of cards, each card having yardage columns corresponding column bearing the names of various plays,

the yardage columns bearing opposite the names of play the number of yards the ball is to be moved in accordance With the playing section in Which the ball is disposed.

12. A foot ball game apparatus comprising, a pack of cards, each card being divided into a playing column bearing the names of different plays, and each card being divided into left center and right yardage columns, and said yardage columns bearing various numbers and play legends of penalty and advance character.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing as my own, I hereby affix my signature.

RALPH H. ANDERSON. 

